Maureen Doody

Maureen is an award-winning contemporary artist, writer, photographer and former elite athlete, from Ottawa, Canada.

Maureen’s journey of intrinsic personal exploration has led her to become an abstractionist with international reach. Employing unconventional colours, compositions and tonal schema, her paintings are an authentic expression of ‘revelations of self’; and by virtue, capture the transient nature of life and the essence of the human condition. An anthropologist, her paintings reflect her connection to the world around her, where one can discern reoccurring themes of healing, resilience, and selfhood.

Maureen holds degrees in Anthropology and Film Studies from the University of Western Ontario; and, a Masters in Cultural Anthropology from Carleton University. During her studies, Maureen competed on both the Varsity Basketball and Track and Field teams, is a multiple Academic All-Canadian and a UWO Sports Hall of Honour inductee. Throughout the course of her esteemed athletics career, including numerous national honours, Maureen was heralded as one of Canada’s elite long jumpers.

Maureen conjointly conceived and launched one of Canada’s most prestigious wedding/portrait studios in Ottawa. Her award-winning work has had international reach and has been featured in national wedding publications.

A cancer diagnosis in 2017 ‘awakened’ the artist to pursue her passion for painting.

Maureen’s early influence in painting stems from her east coast heritage, namely her late father, the renowned Newfoundland ceramicist William Doody. Under his guidance and mentorship Maureen developed and honed her skills as a painter in both oil and acrylic mediums. In addition, she learned the craft of various ceramic techniques, such as glazing, staining, acrylic paint application and kiln firing.

Maureen also had the privilege of further developing her skills and artistry in oil painting and relief/sculpture technique, in the mediums of wood and clay, from family friend and international artist, author and teacher, Fr. Herman Falke, O.C.A. (Life member of the Sculptors Society of Canada; painter and sculptor of the "human landscape”).

In 2018, Maureen was selected as one of 17 “New” artists from across Canada for the ‘Get Noticed’ Art Exhibit at the Red Head Gallery in Toronto. This is a biannual exhibition of visual artists selected by Toronto gallerists noted for actively raising the bar for Canada’s commercial art world. In addition, she was one of 35 artists selected by the Ontario Society of Artists for their biannual Emerging Artists Juried Exhibition.

Her paintings have been featured in Ottawa Photography and Art Label (OPAL) and PACE Magazines and the international publication Studio Visit Magazine. Maureen's poetry and artwork were also featured in the Grief & Acceptance issue of WILDFIRE Magazine. Her artwork has been showcased on HGTV Canada's new reno/design series Hoarder House Flippers. Her work was recently featured as part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s ‘Portraits of Resilience Project’ exhibit.

Maureen is a member of Arts Network Ottawa and the Ottawa Arts Council. Selected for numerous juried art exhibits, her work can be found in galleries and private collections throughout Canada and the United States.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I take larger ideas about the human condition and filter them through my own personal lens to explore themes of healing, resilience and selfhood. I seek to capture what exists below the surface of immediate or conditioned perception. To give the viewer a perspective of awareness through which to interpret, challenge, engage and incite a better understanding of themselves.